Both state and federal prosecutors in Michigan have been attacking Ponzi schemers and affinity fraudsters. Yesterday the office of Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox charged three men with racketeering for their roles in an alleged time-share Ponzi scheme targeted at senior citizens.
In a separate Michigan case, federal prosecutors have announced the guilty plea of Richard Taft Johnson, 67, of Orchard Lake. Johnson is a member of an ever-lengthening list of senior citizens implicated in Ponzi schemes. The list includes names such as Bernard Madoff, 71, (New York/Florida); Richard Piccoli, 83, (New York); Andy Bowdoin, 75, (Florida); Julia Ann Schmidt, 68, (Texas); Judith Zabalaoui, 71, (Louisiana); Arthur Nadel, 77, (Florida/NewYork); Ronald Keith Owens, 73, (Texas); James Blackman Roberts, 71, (Arkansas); and Larry Atkins, 65, (North Dakota).
Johnson pleaded guilty to mail fraud for devising a Ponzi scheme known as the “American Charitable Program,†which led investors to believe “investments would benefit
charitable organizations such as universities or other educational institutions,” prosecutors said.
But the purported charitable program was a fraud that promised returns of 10 percent per quarter — and the fraud was magnified by bogus “periodic statements showing the purported increasing value of their investment accounts,” prosecutors said.
“This was an insidious Ponzi scheme because investors were told it was a safe, secure investment that would ultimately help charities,” said U.S. Attorney Terrence Berg of the Eastern District of Michigan.
“Like most Ponzi schemes, it went undetected for a number of years, allowing some investors to reap a profit on their investments, and encouraging others to invest,” Berg said.
He added that Ponzi perpetrators often recruit others to spread the word about exciting investment programs, which later prove to be Ponzi schemes that cause embarrassment and ill-will among family and friends.
“It can be very disturbing for a victim to discover that he has innocently caused friends or relatives financial ruin,” Berg said. “In the end, a number of the [Johnson] investors, some quite elderly, lost everything because their monies were used to keep the scheme going until the inevitable collapse.”
The Johnson probe is ongoing, despite the plea. “In the course of this investigation, we will be attempting to help ascertain what, if anything, the victims’ might be able to salvage of their financial worth,” Berg said.
Assisting in the probe are the FBI, the State of Michigan Office of Financial Insurance Regulation and the State of Florida Division of Insurance Fraud. Berg said the agencies have “worked very hard to investigate and compile the information about Mr. Johnson’s fraudulent activities.â€
Johnson faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. He conducted business in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., as Investor Planning Services.
“As in all Ponzi schemes, Mr. Johnson would pay out earlier investors, or investors who demanded a return of their money, with newer investors’ monies,” prosecutors said. “But he also diverted significant funds to his personal use.”
The Johnson scheme began to collapse in 2008.
